What Else Are You Doing? Eating Your Own Fingernails?!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: What Else Are You Doing? Eating Your Own Fingernails?!

Release Date: January 30, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into the heated confirmation hearings of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The discussion spans RFK Jr.'s controversial proposals, the ensuing debates with prominent political figures like Elizabeth Warren, and broader reflections on the current state of American politics.

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RFK Jr.'s Confirmation Hearings

Overview of RFK Jr.'s Priorities and Proposals

The episode opens with a brief overview of RFK Jr.'s bid for the HHS Secretary position. As an independent White House contender, RFK Jr. aims to manage a colossal $1.7 trillion budget and oversee 90,000 employees across agencies like the FDA, CDC, NIH, and Medicare/Medicaid Services. His campaign, dubbed "Make America Healthy Again," emphasizes a shift in federal research focus from infectious diseases to chronic illnesses, with a pronounced emphasis on nutrition.

Notable Quote:
Elizabeth Warren (00:44): "The first thing I've done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic."

Discussion of Vaccine Policies and Lawsuits

A significant portion of the discussion centers around RFK Jr.'s stance on vaccines and his approach to regulating pharmaceutical companies. RFK Jr. proposes reducing legal protections for big pharma and increasing lawsuits against them, drawing parallels to past legal actions against companies like the Sackler family for the opioid crisis.

Notable Quote:
Jack Armstrong (03:04): "One aspect of JFK or RFK's thing that I'm troubled by... is the fact that he believes one of the ways to get real accountability out of the big pharma companies is to sue the bejesus out of them and to weaken the protections that they enjoy."

Conflict of Interest Concerns

The hosts express skepticism about RFK Jr.'s financial motivations, highlighting his substantial earnings from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. This raises questions about potential conflicts of interest in his proposed policies.

Notable Quote:
Michael (04:18): "That's troubling."

Exchanges Between Elizabeth Warren and RFK Jr.

A pivotal moment in the hearings involves a confrontation between Senator Elizabeth Warren and RFK Jr. The exchange focuses on ethical concerns regarding RFK Jr.'s financial interests in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.

Notable Quotes:
Joe Getty (07:09): "I'm asking you to commit right now that you will not take a financial stake in every one of those lawsuits so that what you do is Secretary... will also benefit you financially down the line."
Elizabeth Warren (07:51): "Senator, I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule. I will do that. The only thing I want is good science, and that's it."

The discussion highlights the tension between public health responsibilities and personal financial gain, with Armstrong and Getty voicing concerns over RFK Jr.'s integrity and motives.

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Other Political Topics Discussed

FBI Director Nomination and Cash Patel's Comments

The hosts touch upon the nomination of Cash Patel for FBI Director, emphasizing his independent stance against former President Trump’s influence. Patel's refusal to support pardons for January 6th commutations marks a significant departure from expectations, showcasing his commitment to upholding law enforcement integrity.

Notable Quote:
Cash Patel (32:02): "I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of anyone who committed violence against law enforcement on January 6."

Tulsi Gabbard's Appearance and Policies

Discussions briefly veer into Tulsi Gabbard's nomination for Director of National Intelligence, critiquing her appearance and questioning her allegiance and beliefs, including her stance on Russia and Edward Snowden.

Notable Quote:
Michael (32:37): "Tulsi's going just goes with the streak, like a skunk stripe. And I just wondered if that's probably... is that you think it's natural?"

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Reflections on Current Political Climate

Censorship and Free Speech Issues

Armstrong and Getty reflect on the increasing challenges to free speech in the current political landscape. Drawing parallels to historical events, they argue that censorship stifles essential debate and the correction of errors, undermining the foundation of a free society.

Notable Quote:
Jack Armstrong (26:50): "Whenever an excuse is given for censorship because they're wrong or misguided and dangerous, the reply is, are we free to say that they're wrong and misguided and dangerous? Well then we're good. We're fine."

Populism and Societal Divisions

The hosts express concern over rising populism and its unpredictable impact on society. They discuss how polarized environments, similar to those during the COVID-19 pandemic, can lead to societal fractures and hinder collective progress.

Notable Quote:
Michael (23:36): "We've got a chance I'm living through it or may live through it in my lifetime. And I don't know, just kind of want to have a heads up."

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Conclusion

In wrapping up, Armstrong and Getty emphasize the importance of vigilance in the confirmation process, advocating for thorough Senate scrutiny to ensure nominees uphold integrity without conflicts of interest. They encourage listeners to engage critically with political developments and uphold the values of free speech and accountability.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Elizabeth Warren (00:44): "The first thing I've done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic."

• Joe Getty (07:09): "I'm asking you to commit right now that you will not take a financial stake in every one of those lawsuits so that what you do is Secretary... will also benefit you financially down the line."

• Jack Armstrong (03:04): "One aspect of JFK or RFK's thing that I'm troubled by... is the fact that he believes one of the ways to get real accountability out of the big pharma companies is to sue the bejesus out of them and to weaken the protections that they enjoy."

• Cash Patel (32:02): "I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of anyone who committed violence against law enforcement on January 6."

• Jack Armstrong (26:50): "Whenever an excuse is given for censorship because they're wrong or misguided and dangerous, the reply is, are we free to say that they're wrong and misguided and dangerous? Well then we're good. We're fine."

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Key Takeaways

• RFK Jr.'s nomination for HHS Secretary is mired in controversy over his stance on vaccines and potential conflicts of interest.
• The confrontation between Elizabeth Warren and RFK Jr. underscores the tension between public health policies and personal financial motives.
• The hosts express broader concerns about censorship, free speech, and the rise of populism in American politics.
• Ongoing nominations, including Cash Patel for FBI Director and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, add to the political discourse surrounding integrity and loyalty in government positions.

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Note: This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting critical discussions and notable moments aimed at providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven’t listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio.

[Jack Armstrong]

Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

If confirmed, the former independent White House contender would oversee a $1.7 trillion budget, 90,000 employees and agencies, the FDA, CDC, NIH, and Medicare and Medicaid Services. Kennedy says his Make America Healthy Again pursuit would prioritize nutrition and shift federal research away from infectious disease towards chronic illness.

[Elizabeth Warren]

The first thing I've done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic.

[Michael]

Interesting. That's RFK Jr. His hearing started yesterday and we're going to play you some highlights and it continues today. I don't want to take the fun out of this, but my feeling on the whole thing in general is if he gets approved, and he most likely is, if he does anything super crazy, there will be a revolt, including among Republicans, and they'll have to get somebody new.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what I suspect as well.

[Michael]

He's not going to declare no vaccines for schools. And everybody will say, I guess we just have to go along with it. That's not going to happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. And we could. Well, I mean, his, his reign could well lead to a debate on a number of issues and we come out at a better place. I'm not a fan of the guy, but some of the harem scare him talk. I mean, for instance, Here in clip 32, Michael, this is Jake Tapper's fair and balanced lead on the story. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Who's been spreading lies about vaccines for decades, pressed on his reign of error. Luckily nobody heard that because nobody watches cnn.

[Michael]

Yeah, so I saw a clip. I should have had Hanson grab it, but I saw a pushback that RFK Jr had later in the day. Okay, so here's three of my conspiracy theories that turned out to be true. And he went through a number of them that were things he had said that are now adopted as true. That you could spread the COVID even if you were vaxxed. That was considered a conspiracy theory for a long time. So do I think RFK Jr has conspiracy theories that aren't true? Yes, he absolutely does. But your own government, Jake Tapper, your side, spread all kinds of stuff that was completely false. And they knew it was false. They weren't even just crackpots. They were cynics who were saying the opposite of what they knew to be true. And you gave them a pass. For it. So give me a break.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because the people were too stupid to handle the truth. The One aspect of JFK or RFK's thing that I'm troubled by, and I would like to discuss with somebody who's an expert in this, because I'm not, is the fact that he believes one of the ways to get real accountability out of the big pharma companies is to sue the bejesus out of them and to weaken the protections that they enjoy. There are a set of laws that have to do with protecting the companies for vaccine lawsuits and then there's a federal fund to pay damages because the perception was, or the decision was, it's so important to vaccinate all kids against these awful. And some of them are just nightmares childhood diseases. We can't ask the private companies to take on the ginormous risk of lawsuits. And so the federal government is going to give them a little protection and blah, blah, blah, because it's so important to all of us.

[Michael]

Yeah, same with the research. Why would you spend all the money on research for some vaccine for some new disease if you think you're going to get the bejesus suit out of you if anything goes wrong?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And. And they. There is a point to that philosophy. There's absolutely. That's not crazy. RFK is saying the way we bring the big pharma folks to heal is in the style of, say, the giant lawsuits against the Sackler family and the OxyContin and the rest of it is through lawsuits. And so they're overprotected. Well, wrinkle number two, RFK Jr makes scads of money on those lawsuits.

[Michael]

That's troubling.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's how he gets rich. Yeah. So conflict of interest, Much as they used to say a long time ago. And it was annoying then and annoying now.

[Michael]

Anyway, does he need scads of money? He's a Kennedy. Don't they all just go home and jump at a big pile of money like Scrooge McDuck?

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no idea. Another outdated reference. I have no idea what the finances of the art of the average Kennedy. I don't know if they got $50 million in the bank or if they're, you know, like you're your classic rock star who didn't actually get make much money and tours constantly because they have to pay their bills. I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, one shocking revelation from the RFK hearings was right here. Michael in 34.

[Elizabeth Warren]

In terms of addiction services, substance abuse services, this is a priority for me, it was a priority for me when I was running for president, during my campaign, I was a heroin addict for 14 years. I've been 42 years in recovery. I go to 12, seven meetings every day. So I hear the stories every day.

[Michael]

Wow. A couple of interesting things there. He does 12 step meetings every day after 40 some years, which is interesting. And he was a heroin addict for a decade plus. Almost a decade and a half. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Three presidential terms and half of the next.

[Michael]

Wow, man. If you got a loved one who's a heroin addict for that long, you've given up on them being alive. At that point, I gotta think. You think they're, they're. They're never coming back. I'm just gonna get a phone call someday.

[Jack Armstrong]

And over there on the other side of Washington D.C. pete Heth is saying, oh, and I got drunk twice. Oh, no.

[Michael]

We have a reports here that you once got drunk at a bowling alley at a work function. RK Jr. Was a heroin addict for 14 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's.

[Michael]

That is interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then there was quite the argument between Elizabeth Warren and rfd.

[Michael]

Just to go back to that before we move on. There is something around that, for whatever reason, culturally, that if you are a. If you're a drug addict, it's kind of exotic and unique in A Walk on the Wild side.

[Jack Armstrong]

But if you're drunk, very difficult. Very difficult to handle. Jack. Many people get addicted.

[Michael]

If you're a drunk, it's just pathetic.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you're a stupid loser. Only an idiot would be a drunk. You're a stupid loser. Loser. Yes. The heroin addict, on the other hand, it's highly addictive, kind of cool.

[Michael]

And rock stars do it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he had back pain and took pills. Not that all that stuff isn't true, but you know, if you're drug.

[Michael]

Kind of a weak, dumb loser.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. All right, but enough about my hobbies. Elizabeth Warren. Hi.

[Michael]

I saw an AI thing yesterday. AI, you know, is so good and believable is her.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Michael]

They call on her and she goes in the AI thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think that happened.

[Michael]

I'm going to have to.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's not accurate. I saw a great deal of hearing. She did not make an Indian war cry. Let's. Let's get that out of the way. All right. Anyway, she took war hatchet in hand and went after RFK Jr. This is what it sounded like.

[Joe Getty]

And I'm asking you to commit right now that you will not take a financial stake in every one of those lawsuits so that what you do is Secretary. Will also benefit you financially down the line.

[Elizabeth Warren]

I. I'll comply with all the ethical guidance.

[Joe Getty]

That's not the question you and I you have said.

[Elizabeth Warren]

You're asking me, Senator, you're asking me not to sue vaccine pharmaceutical companies. That's exactly what you're doing.

[Joe Getty]

Look, no one should be fooled here. Secretary of hhs. Robert Kennedy will have the power to undercut vaccines and vaccine manufacturing across our country. And for all of his talk about follow the science and his promise that he won't interfere with those of us who want to vaccinate his kids, the bottom line is the same. Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it. Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.

[Elizabeth Warren]

Senator, I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule. I will do that. The only thing I want is good science, and that's it.

[Michael]

I also saw an AI thing where she used every part of the buffalo there in the hearing room.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

And I don't think that happened actually either.

[Jack Armstrong]

A bit of a distraction there, but to the substance of it. I can't stand Elizabeth Warren. She's a liar and a phony and a race baiter and the rest of it. But there is concern there. I'm doing this lawsuit because it's the right thing. I get a referral fee and it's going to be paying me money long into my old.

[Michael]

Well. Let me read from Brit Hume of Fox. No fan of Elizabeth Warren. The exchange devolved into a shouting match. But Elizabeth Warren, for once had a valid point in asking Bobby K. Jr. To force where receiving money from the trial law firm he's associated with. Her point was that as HHS secretary, he'd be in a position to influence the outcome of lawsuits filed by that firm. Kennedy kept saying she was demanding he not sue drug companies, but that was not what she was saying. According to Brit Hume of Fox.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. I would agree. That's the way I read it too. Again. And trust me, it's not comfortable being in agreement with Liz Warren.

[Michael]

And then she jumped on her pony side saddle and rode out of there. And the AIs I saw.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, well, excellent. And then what of the onesies? Jack? Another notable exchange between the always colorful Benton socialist Bernie Sanders and RFK Jr. What about the onesies?

[Bernie Sanders]

Now you're coming before this committee and you say you are pro vaccine. Just want to ask some questions. And yet your organization is making money selling a child's product to parents for 26 bucks, which casts fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines. Can you tell us now that you will, now that you are pro vaccine, that you're going to have your organization take these products off the market?

[Elizabeth Warren]

Senator, I have no power over that organization. I'm not part of it. I resigned from the board.

[Bernie Sanders]

That was just a few months ago. You founded that. You certainly have power. You can make that. Are you supportive of this?

[Elizabeth Warren]

I've had nothing to do with.

[Bernie Sanders]

Are you supportive of these onesies?

[Elizabeth Warren]

I'm supportive of vaccines.

[Bernie Sanders]

Are you supportive of these, this clothing, which is militantly anti vaccine?

[Elizabeth Warren]

I am supportive of vaccines. I want good science and I want to protect.

[Bernie Sanders]

But you will not tell the organization you founded not to continue selling that product. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Michael]

That clearly will be part Sanders. That will clearly be part of the clips of the year at the end of the year. Are you supportive of these onesies? And I think it's funny that even Bernard Sanders at his advanced age realized that sounds silly. So the second time he said it, he changed. He changed it to are you supportive of these clothing items? Because me saying, are you supportive of these onesies? Sounds ridiculous.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why are they all white? Everybody knows a baby will spit up. They shouldn't be white. Do you support white onesies? The onesies say unvaxed, unafraid or no vax. No problem.

[Michael]

Why onesies? Whose idea was this? How do you get both legs in there? I get one leg and then the other leg is squirming around and I can't get it in there. I remember doing that in the middle of the night. What the heck?

[Jack Armstrong]

Like wrestling an octopus. Anyway, where were we? Ah, RFK Jr. That's right. So we'll have to see the way the Senate votes. There are aspects of his act that trouble me a great deal. I gotta believe you could find somebody to advocate the things he advocates who doesn't have those gigantic conflicts of interest. But I don't know who that person is though.

[Michael]

True. But like Elon, for whatever reason, you need the lightning rod to get the conversation going. Somebody, Elon says stuff and we have the conversation that we wouldn't have. Somebody else said it. And I think the same thing with RFK Jr. I don't, I don't like that it works that way, but it seems to be true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I, if, if certain of Trump's nominees had or will get the job, I would be really worried. I think it's a terrible mistake. RFK Jr. I think. Yeah. Better keep an eye on this one, but let's see how it goes.

[Michael]

I, I had a little thing I wanted to say about the confirmation hearings just in general, but I'll do it later because they're going on again today with several other controversial nominees and a whole bunch of other stuff. So I hope you can stick around.

[Bernie Sanders]

Are you supportive of these onesies?

[Michael]

Armstrong and Getty?

[Jack Armstrong]

What is going on?

[Michael]

Apparently didn't top at the last 18 screaming in the background.

[Cash Patel]

We were screaming, stop the bus. Stop the bus. Stop the bus. I was scared because he didn't stop at any of the first few stops. And I was scared that the other kids weren't gonna get to go home. He was just like getting mad over little stuff.

[Michael]

He was getting mad over little stuff. That's kids in a 911 call. Who called 91 1? Did one of the kids call 911 as a school bus? 72 year old bus driver arrested for driving drunk with the kids in the bus. That's. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

They, they called 911 because the drunk ass bus driver wouldn't stop at any of the stops.

[Michael]

That's a pretty old bus driver to start with. And you're getting up there. I mean plenty of 70 or 2 year olds and can drive fine, but they're getting pretty up there in terms of reaction time and all that sort of stuff. And drunk. And so he wouldn't stop at the stops. You had to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

He had to be really drunk, ragging at the kids and the rest of it. And just.

[Michael]

Yeah. He wasn't just, I'm gonna have a quick one because I can't handle the nan and the kids today. He was hammered.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Reminds me of when I. I rode the school bus every single day for like my entire school career both ways. And we had a. Gladys, I'm telling a story from way back. We're cars. The harp sound. Thank you, Gladys. Gladys went to school in a horse drawn carriage just like my dad. One time we had a school bus driver like for one day, maybe two. And he was like Otto from the Simpsons. I'm Otto and I love to get blotto. But there was this one like dip in a road. And he would hit it really fast. And we'd all sit in the back of the bus. It's coming up. And we'd all move to the back seat. Of course, no seat belts. And we'd sit in the back and he'd hit it and we'd all fly like three feet in the air.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

And we thought it was hilarious. But he was only bus driver for a couple of days, I think. I wonder if he was drunk. He Might have been.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and that speaks to a certain attitude about life, doesn't it? Doing that that, you know, might not square with being the classic school bus driver.

[Michael]

Yeah, man. The school bus was so like Lord of the Flies, though. And I don't actually know if I think that is better for me or it's better. I don't know. But it was definitely Lord of the Flies. I mean, you had to learn to navigate lots of different situations because it was. It could be scary and. And very intimidating.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Towards the back of the bus. And nobody cared. That's just the way it was. I know Christopher Hitchens, in his memoir, he was talking about how there was so much bullying and beatings from the teachers and everything like that when he went to private school as a kid in England. And.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sexual assault.

[Michael]

Sexual assault. And in his book, he says he thinks that society was better when they had some of that. He hated it at the time. I don't know that I'm willing to go there, but I can kind of see the point. Can kind of see where you're going with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. It's a grim assessment and a difficult conversation to have. But if it leads to a further discussion of the nature of raising kids and the way we raise them and what makes. What sort of childhood makes for a strong, resilient adult. I'm not pro rape, certainly.

[Michael]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I despise bullying, but it's a conversation worth having.

[Michael]

Yeah, it's pretty darn interesting, actually. We have some more stuff on the hearings. Tulsi Gabbard being grilled and the guy who might run the FBI being grilled today. And so we'll get to some of that as it unfolds throughout.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cash Patel, as he's known among friends. Yeah, the whole Hitchens thing, sometimes a terrible idea is just one notch off of a very, very good idea. So we can't be afraid to have these discussions. Armstrong and Gettys, my colleagues, have already asked your future boss, Mr. Bondi, many questions about this. I think it's easy to see these attacks for what they are. Guilt by association. Are you a follower or promoter of QAnon?

[Tulsi Gabbard]

No, Senator. In fact, I have publicly, including in the interviews provided to this committee, rejected outright QAnon baseless conspiracy theories or any other baseless conspiracy theories. They must be addressed head on with the truth. And I will continue to do that. And I will always continue to support Americans who support law enforcement, our military, and want a secure border.

[Michael]

That's Cash Patel being grilled to by the senators, their Advise and consent role so he can run the FBI. That was a Republican asking that question. Chuck Grassley. So he was asking the question.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Chuck Grassley, who went to elementary school with Abraham Lincoln and is so old he didn't realize Mr. Bondi is clearly Ms. Bondi, and she's good at being Ms. Bondi.

[Michael]

I'd say yowzer. But Chuck Grassley, a Republican, was asking that question to give him the chance to get out the whole no, I'm not QAnon thing right off the bat, as opposed to a Democrat answering, asking it where he'd say, oh, you caught me. I was gonna try to keep that chicken, but since you asked me, I gotta say, yes, I am, and I'm proud of it. You know, like you're gonna catch somebody on that. But I was watching the hearing a little bit, and this Cash Patel dude is a brown person. What's his background? Indian or whatever it is Indian. And I was just thinking how if he was a Democrat, the only thing we would need to be talking about around this whole nomination would be it'd be the first person of color to lead the FBI. And any criticism of him, no matter how wacky he was on any issue, any criticism would be Republicans who don't like. Who are othering him, who don't like the idea of brown people being in.

[Jack Armstrong]

Charge would be the only thing 100% correct. That's right. And, you know, it's funny, hadn't even occurred to me. The hell do I care if he's Indian American? I don't even run the agency.

[Michael]

No, it makes no difference to me at all. But if he were Democrat.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gosh, the breezes have changed on that.

[Michael]

If he were Democrat and controversial at all, like Cash Patel is, it would be you're. You're a racist. You just can't handle brown people taking over.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's all I need to know about Cash Patel. And if I turn out to be wrong, I will manfully admit it. Trey Gowdy says he would be a terrific choice. Yeah, that I respect the hell out of Trey Gowdy.

[Michael]

That's pretty good. Pretty good recommendation right there.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a completely different topic, although related in that the crap which has now been cut cut the crap of the recent years of the Biden administration and the woke crowd running things included such nonsense as, you know, if somebody's tanner than me and somebody criticizes them, it's clearly racism. And then this. And I'm going to refer again to a brilliant essay I mentioned the other day by Martin Gurry, he's writing in the free press, but he's talking about the campaign against misinformation, disinformation, censorship, aggressive censorship during the Biden administration. And he makes a point that I think is worth, like etching, writing down in ink, if not etching into granite. And he. And he does so quite eloquently. He lists a bunch of questions that were asked during the COVID thing when each and every one of the answers to them, and I won't go through the list, but it had to do with the vaccines and closing the schools and the stuff we've discussed many times. And the only acceptable answer to every single one of those questions was yes, but the administration, and by proxy the social media insisted that you say no, and you must say no, and you will be punished if you don't. And he. He goes into not only the Biden administration, but do you remember Jacinda Ardern, the rather attractive Prime Minister of New Zealand during the pandemic? She was zealous about lockdowns and government policy. She was like the Gretchen Whitmer down under. But anyway, as. As the essayist points out, she said out loud what Biden's puppeteers only whisper behind the scenes. She said, quot continue to be your single source of truth unless you hear it from us. It is not the truth. And in the matter of ardor in the Biden administration gave itself a divine attribute. Similarly, it was the single source of source of truth and light. And its many errors, it proclaimed, were the misperceptions of a deluded public. And the debate was at an end. Disgracefully, most of the news media went along with it. They defended, they parroted. Academia went along, as did most corporations. Many mainstream churches went along, placing a secular word of a doddering president above their own received wisdom. The Open Society was closed for repairs until further notice. And here's the part that needs to be etched into granite. The greatest danger in a closed system that shuts off debate isn't error, but the impossibility of correcting error, of ever arriving at the truth. And he goes into a fair amount of detail, but the idea is we can absolutely deal with people who are wrong or have bad ideas. We've been existing, we've been dealing with that since the dawn of man had no starts, like the Almighty had no start. It will know no end, people being wrong or misguided. But the one thing we can't take is restricting people from saying out loud, I think you're wrong. That's the one sin we must never ever commit, no matter how good the excuse is.

[Michael]

Well, having lived through it, which I didn't think I ever would in my life, but having lived through it, it was something to see how quickly it, it could go away. Like really quickly.

[Jack Armstrong]

And how quickly people went along with it.

[Michael]

Well, yeah, that's the way it goes away. You have enough people who are out of being frightened, I guess. So I'm super into, I was gonna.

[Jack Armstrong]

Say it's the, the desire for safety, which is incredibly powerful. And what is my side saying?

[Michael]

Yeah, so I'm super into civilizations falling apart through history. It's just something I'm really interested in. And I. Because I think there's a chance I'm living through it or may live through it in my lifetime. And I don't know, just kind of want to have a heads up. But like I'm currently reading this book, as I've mentioned many times about France 1870, when there many times in France their civilization has apart, fallen apart where they just, they go nutso. And it's, it's a lot like what we did during COVID where you, you, you, you pick a side and your side can do no wrong and you're completely immune to logic for a while and all kinds of things go out the window. And it's just, it's something to see it that it has happened so many times throughout history. That's why dudes are into the fall of the Roman Republic. Like how, how does something that was working go away? And it's troublingly easy, as I've said.

[Jack Armstrong]

Many times, it was almost worth it to live through it.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

To see, I mean how. Right. Mr. Merrill, who's writing this or Thomas Jefferson was, for instance. I'm about to quote Jefferson because Merrill writes about how in 1798. And Jack, you've pointed out, and it's incredibly troubling and almost bitterly amusing because it shows how human beings are. The very founding generation themselves passed the, the Sedition Act. President John Adams arm twisted Congress into enacting the Sedition act, which essentially threw citizens in jail for slandering the federal government, which is to say bad mouthing him or, or, or, or you know, criticizing him. Now Adams won four years or two years later in, in 1800, and this is how he put it in his first inaugural address, quote, if there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this union or to change its Republican stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left Free to combat it. The idea, it's a restatement of one of his great guiding principles that I'd much rather attend to the problems of too much liberty than too little.

[Michael]

Yeah, well, yeah, I guess that proves a point right there. I mean, if the founding generation could get that off track that fast with free speech, then you can't blame the current times because it's just, it's, it's, it's easy to fall for. Yeah, well, in this circumstance you can't have. Free speech is always the thing. We've got a unique circumstance, Covid. You know, we're just putting together the country and we got, you know, we got to worry about England and France and everybody. So now is not a time for people saying whatever they want. Right. There's always some reason why now is a specifically unique time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just join us, won't you, in the army of the lovers of liberty. In that whenever an excuse is given for censorship because they're wrong or misguided or dangerous, the reply is, are we free to say that, that they're wrong and misguided and dangerous?

[Michael]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well then we're good. We're fine.

[Michael]

Yeah. Reading this stuff about France or lots of different places, popularism and mob mentality is so frightening and unwieldy and just completely unpredictable and happens out of nowhere. And once it gets going, stopping it is incredibly hard. Yeah, the whole populism thing should be treated with kid gloves.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. It is a human impulse that is among our more dangerous ones. It causes us to band together in societies for self protection and mutual trade and mutual benefit. But the ugly side of it is like double ugly. Speaking of double ugly scumbags who want to steal your stuff instead of getting a damn job. That's why Simply Safe home security exists. It is the best. And this is, this is crazy. Seriously, if you think about this, Simply Safe has this incredibly advanced active guard outdoor protection, helps prevent break ins before they happen. They have AI powered cameras, live professional monitoring agents. They monitor your property, detect suspicious activity and they can talk to scumbags and tell them get out. They can turn on your spotlights, even call the cops before the break in. And that's incredibly affordable.

[Michael]

All of that simply say if you're using a little AI along with some human beings to make sure people can't get into your home or they're seen before they get into your home. Yeah. And that's about a dollar a day. No long term contracts or cancellation fees, 60 day satisfaction guarantee. So really no risk.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Michael]

Cash Patel just said something really, really interesting around the J6 pardonings. And Tulsi Gabbard is being grilled about being the person who runs, well, the whole intelligence operation and then just hearings in general. I got something I heard the other day I thought was really interesting and other stuff. I hope you can stick around Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, guys, Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

[Michael]

I saw an ad today that really caught my eye.

[Jack Armstrong]

Take a look at this ad.

[Katie]

This Valentine's Day, if you're planning to ask her that very special question, make sure she knows you really care by giving her something more valuable than all the diamonds in the world. A single egg Speckled Farm's best. Because she deserves it.

[Michael]

Ah, isn't that nice? It's a price of eggs joke.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very expensive eggs. I get it.

[Michael]

Um, I think. Am I wrong, Katie? I think proposing on Valentine's Day, most women would go, ew, no.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah, don't do it.

[Michael]

It.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Don't do it.

[Michael]

Not cool. Yeah. New Year's Eve, Valentine's. For whatever reason, those are off limits.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Cheapens it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or.

[Michael]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm troubled by the performative nature of everything in the modern world. You've got to have a giant performative engagement. You've got to have a giant performative wedding.

[Michael]

Well, somebody's got to have their phone out and you have to post it. Certainly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you got to have a giant performative gender reveal.

[Michael]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

You've got to have a giant performative. Here's me at the art museum. Whatever happened to going places and doing stuff?

[Michael]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stop making a TV production of it.

[Michael]

Now, Valentine Day this year is on a Friday, so forget going out to eat. I remember one time, many, many years ago, only once in my life that I try to go out to eat on Valentine's Day. And it was awful. Just awful. I mean, if you like standing in a shoulder to shoulder lobby of whatever restaurant for a half an hour before you even get to your reservation in a very crowded restaurant, go ahead. But, oh, it's on a Friday night this year. But here's the good news. Calendar wise, Groundhog Day is Sunday. We don't have to deal with it this year. We missed out on Groundhog Day. Thank God. America's stupidest day, clearly, boy.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Big worry of mine.

[Michael]

Well, every, every year we gotta get at the CBS Early Show. They're gonna have the Today Show. They're gonna be there in Punxsutawney and they're gonna have the damn rodent. Just, please, we're all grown ups here, all right? We're not six years old.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. You're taking your weather forecast from a rodent. What else are you doing eating your own fingernails? Just.

[Michael]

I got a question. We're gonna talk about the hearings, hour three. Have some serious things to say about that. Cash Patel just said, and this is a pretty big deal, he's the guy up for FBI Director that a lot of people think it way too trumpy. And he's just. He's going to do Trump's bidding and retribution and jail the people who don't like Trump and that sort of thing. Cash Patel said about the J6 pardon commutations, I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of anyone who committed violence against law enforcement. On January 6, breaking with his boss. That's a pretty big break.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's some independence right there.

[Michael]

Yeah, I'd say so. And he's right. Tulsi Gabbard, attractive Hawaiian woman, wants to be the DNI Director of National Intelligence. She's wearing her white outfit that she's kind of famous for. She's always got that gray streak in her hair. And I don't know, maybe you know this Katie. I don't know. Is that a. Is that an. Is she just born that way where she's got dark hair and but one streak of gray. Does she dye it that way? Because like, I know plenty of women who do. The one blue one, you know, you had a red streak or a blue streak or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

For the record, we're talking about the Director of National Intelligence and this is Jack's question, correct? Yeah.

[Michael]

Is that as optional?

[Unnamed Speaker]

I don't know if she was. I know that is a condition people are born with, but the gray hair thing is really in right now.

[Michael]

The women letting it go gray.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Letting it go gray or dyeing it gray before it goes gray, it's it. Oh, yeah. Friend of mine just went gray or silver as she calls it.

[Michael]

At what age?

[Jack Armstrong]

39, though, you mean?

[Michael]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

She's how old?

[Unnamed Speaker]

39 or 40? 39.

[Michael]

She'll go an early gray. Okay. Yeah, Maybe That'll become a thing.

[Unnamed Speaker]

She spotted a few and said, I'm gonna embrace it.

[Michael]

You know, when I run into a woman who's decided to fully embrace the gray like men generally do, I'm always a little shocked. Like, well, you don't see that very often, but Tulsi's go just goes with the streak, like a skunk stripe. And I just wondered if that's probably. Or is that you think it's natural?

[Jack Armstrong]

Joe, that's not the most flattering way to describe it. Yeah, I suspect that that's just the way her hair grows. Okay. I'm a little more concerned about her affection for the Kremlin and her wackadoodle half occult spiritual beliefs in their pyramid schemes and her affection for Edward Snowden, who did a hell of a lot more than simply expose some of the NSA sins. On the other hand, her hair color is fascinating and worthy of inquiry. Yes, Katie.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So she's actually commented on it. I started to gray in that spot during my first deployment to Iraq, so I've chosen to keep it as a daily reminder of the terrible cost of war.

[Michael]

Awesome answer.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a cool answer.

[Michael]

That is very cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

I still think she's a crackpot.

[Michael]

Okay, well, I'll tell you what Joe is doing, because she said in her opening statement, before I close, I want to warn the American people watching at home, you will hear lies and smears like you just heard from Joe Getty that challenge my loyalty and love of our country. Those who oppose my nomination imply I'm loyal to something or someone other than God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Said the traitor.

[Michael]

So Joe's part of the whole smear lies thing. I guess she's claiming, as I said.

[Jack Armstrong]

In some of the fever pitch run up to the. The hearings during the transition period. I'm glad they have hearings. I got an idea. How about we have the Senate advise and consent on the President's appointees, and we'll take a good solid look at all this stuff. I'm very content with this process, and if she gets through it. And all the Republicans say, for a job this critical. If all the Republicans say, you know what? No, it seems that she's a good gal and let's give her the job, I'm all right with it.

[Michael]

I want to talk about the whole process because I heard a good podcast about it the other day, whether it's outlived its uselessness. You know, most of our nation's history, we didn't do this. Even though it's in the Constitution, we didn't do it this way, at least partially because there were no TV cameras. There is no benefit to grandstanding alone in a room like there is now. But senators would do a little research on their own, and then. And they, you know, they would, they would. They. They would vote one way or another or write a letter asking a question or whatever. That'd be their advice and consent. Now we do this show, and there's only been one time, like in the last 40 years that anything has ever come out of one of these hearings that anybody thought actually made a difference in terms how people were already going to vote. So you gotta wonder if it's actually doing anything. But the process does lead to all the media stuff that happens leading up to it, and a number of people have been run out of the nomination by the media scrutiny before the hearing. So maybe that's the real advice and consents going on. Digging into Matt Gaetz before he even gets to the hearing, and he, you know, he pulls his name.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, absolutely. It reminds me of, you know. Well, I don't have time to explain the metaphor, but I think it's very, very useful.

[Michael]

Yeah, it's interesting. If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand. Armstrong and Gettysburg.